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Bids are rolling in for the Mexican border wall
by Chris Isidore @CNNMoney
March 30, 2017: 12:35 PM ET

Will Trump's border wall become a fence?

Contractors are already submitting bids for the first step of President Donald Trump's signature promise -- a border wall with Mexico.
This first round of bids is only to design and build wall prototypes in the San Diego border area. The deadline to get them to the Department of Homeland Security is April 4.
While construction of the prototypes could start within weeks, it will be months, if not years, before construction of the actual wall begins.
The prototypes will be smaller than the eventual wall will be -- only 10 feet tall and 10 feet long, enough to demonstrate what a full-size version would look like.
The department will decide how many prototypes to build once it sees the various submissions, said Jenny Burke, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security.

There are some basic parameters for the wall -- while it should be 30 feet high, the department says it will accept bids for an 18-foot structure. It must run at least six feet underground to make tunneling more difficult. It must also be able to endure at least 30 minutes of attempts to bore through it with a "sledgehammer, car jack, pick axe, chisel, battery operated impact tools, battery operated cutting tools, Oxy/acetylene torch or other similar hand-held tools."

But beyond that, the bidders have a fair amount of latitude in how they design it. In fact DHS is actually not even committed to a wall. It also accepting bids for a border fence. The difference: A wall is completely solid, while a fence is a barrier that you can see through.

Trump himself has continually corrected people who referred to his plans as a fence.
"It's not a fence. It's a wall," Trump said at a January press conference before he took office. "We're going to build a wall."
Related: Trump wants a wall. Border experts want a fence.http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politi...r-wall/?iid=EL

But sources have told CNN that career officials at the agencies most involved in the process are likely to recommend a fence rather than a wall. They believe it is important that border patrol agents be able to see through whatever structure is built.
Despite the president's strong views about the wall, Homeland Security seems to be open to ideas about what other kinds of structures could protect the border. In addition to prototype bids, DHS has opened up a separate process to collect more general suggestions from outsiders, including contractors, think tanks, universities and even members of the public.
"DHS recognizes that industry, other agencies, and other private entities may have interesting and useful ideas about how we could proceed," said a request for proposals, which are due March 31. "We would like to invite submissions of any such ideas so we can consider them as we develop a complete and comprehensive long-term strategy."

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Brownsville, Texas (CNN) — Before Donald Trump can build his promised wall between the US and Mexico, he will have to take private property from thousands of US citizens - a land grab that is expected to prompt years of legal battles, cost tens of millions in taxpayer dollars and delay construction.

A CNN analysis of lawsuits filed the last time the government seized land to build a border fence in 2006 found that property owners who fought to keep their land always lost and that the government often offered them thousands of dollars less than the land was worth.

Many court battles dragged on for years, stalling construction at times, according to the review of more than 400 federal lawsuits. In scores of cases, the litigation continues today.

The government's land acquisition was also costly. More than $78 million was spent on some 600 parcels, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials. An additional $25 million is expected to be paid to settle unresolved real estate transactions and for litigation expenses, the agency said.

And that money covers only 654 miles of sporadic fencing that lines the 2,000 mile border.

If President Trump builds a "great, big beautiful wall" over larger portions of the border as he has vowed, there will likely be hundreds, if not thousands more landowners going to court to stop the take-over or to get a better price for their land, experts say.

Joseph Hein, whose 580 acre ranch has been in his family for nearly 100 years, says he's against a border wall, especially if it runs through his property.

"This is so wrong, you know, this is being done based on ignorance and fear and misinformation and assumptions," he said.

Residents of the River Bend resort and golf club in Brownsville, Texas are also bracing for a fight. More than 300 residents live in tiny RV mobile homes or brick houses placed neatly around the golf course. While not wealthy, most are over 65, and enjoying retirement.

When the government built the border fence years ago, the resort presented a thorny problem, the results of which can be seen today: The fence goes right up to the edge of the resort on both sides, but leaves a large gap in-between.

The fence would have bisected the resort.

"If it did that, 70% of our property would be on the south side of the wall," said Jeremy Barnard, general manager of the resort. "That would affect 15 of our 18 holes of the golf course and over 200 residences."

The US Department of Justice said in a statement to CNN that acquiring land for the border wall was part of the nation's "security policy" and that property owners would receive "fair market" compensation in exchange.

The current border fence runs in stretches with significant gaps in places. That is especially true in the Rio Grande Valley, where the government took land from many property owners.

The reasons for the gaps are varied, experts said. Often topography dictated exactly where the fence could go. There were also concerns for hydrology, flooding or other environmental reasons.

Funding for the fence construction ultimately was frozen before the stretch of fence at the resort could be targeted.

This man absolutely disgusts me with how he has zero thought to how he runs over peoples lives just to suit his own needs. I'd love to see him fall into a position of rags just to watch him really cry about life.